Steering wheel and lock therefor



D. C. AND E. F. GDS SEIT. STEERING WHEEL AND LOCK THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1919.

Patented May 2, 1922.

mww

Gum;

improve'ments in steering wheels and more i particularly to that type'in'which thesteer- To all whom itimay concern:

'1 UNITED STA-res j E DONALD o. eossErr AND ELDON. E. Goss rT, 0FIDETROITLMICI-IIGAN. 'f

STEERING WHEEL ANnLooK-THEEEEo .13 Be it' known that we, DONALD C:GossE'rT ands ELnoN "F's GOSSETT, citizens of the U-nited: States,residing at Detroit, inthe -c'ounty of Wayne,1 and :State ofMichigan,

have. invented-certain newi and useful ,Improvements in SteeringWheelsa-nd Locks Therefor, ofwhich the following is a specifi- I 1 ngrod screw .threadedto receive a nut cation.

Our invention relates to new andJusefuI oap: ),-.and retains-the. postcap-upon the steering post. In order that the post cap 9 vmay. rotatethe rsteering rod, weprovide; a

1 ing wheel is pivotally connected-tothesteer- V tion illustratingthesteering wheel locked to the steering .post or in an inoperativepo- 7line H'Of Fig. 3. f 1 V I In the drawingswherein is shown for thepurpose of illustration a preferred embodi l ing post, and an importantobject of the;inventi'on'resides invthe provision for means; ifor-locking the. steering wheel in either an :operative-orinoperativeposition. I

' Another ob3ect of our invention residesin the provision of meanscarried by the steer- 20 ing :post for engaging the steering wheel tosecurely :retain said-wheel in anioperative M vertically arranged Vspaced. arms. 14, and as position. i ,--Another ob ect ofour-inventionresides 1n the provision of means carried by the steeringpost for engagement with either a wheel rim or the spider thereof forsecurely lockal gn .to receive afpin .15 rigidly secured .to thearmsbymeans of headless set screws ing the wheel-in-an inoperativeposition.

A still further 'objectof-thelinvention resides in the provision of anovel. post cap which issecured to the :steeringrod and to position.

Other objects and advantagesof the ing @vention will become apparentduring thecourse of the following description.

p: In the accompanying drawings forming a part of the description andwherein like numerals are, employed to designate like {parts through thesame,

Fig. 1 is aside elevation-of our-inven- .-ti0n.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 1s a. front elevation of theinvem sition, and

Fig. 4 1s a transverse section taken on t he end. of which; is mounted abushingfi, which Specification of I etterslatent. Pat t d a 1922.Application filed May 9, :19 19.- semi-Norseman. I I

serves. as: a bearing for the steering rod 7.- .Tl11S iSt eeI lIlgrodextends. up through the steering post, through the. bushing 6.to...extend a substantial dlstance above the top of the steeringpost. Thefree end of the-steer 8,= which nut: engages a portion of a postlongitudinally extendinggroove 10 in the periphery. of the longitudinalopening 11 through vthe post-cap... A NVoodru'fi keyl 12 .is arrangedpartially 'within the groovelO, while the curved or-semi-circular-portion of the key is received in a steering rod.

.Thelpost cap slot 13=inthe 9 is provided with. a of more clearly shownin'Fig. 2 of the drawing, the nut .8 being positioned therebe- 16. Anupstanding lug 17 is formedupon the post cap between the arms thereof,and

the free end of this lug is arranged in close proximity to the plane ofthe pin 15. i. 1

r As'teering wheel 18 -is. provided-with. a spider-"19,,- which in turnis provided with. a depending portion 20" having an opening:therethrough for the reception of the pin 15, ,whereby a steering wheelis pivotally. con;

nected to thepost cap 9 betweenthe vertically extending arms ltethereof.'Ihed'epending portion 20 of thespider is provided .onits rear-edge withan outwardly extending lug 21, the outer face ofwhich is curved as at22for a-purpose whichwillpresently appear. -As elearly shown in'Fig; 1,when' the steering wheel is .in' an operative position the bottom of thelug 2 1' rests upon the top of the cap 1 1g 17 and orderjto retain thesetwo lugs in; engagement }Withl'i}each.; '1 other; we provide asresilientcat'ch 28,,the

lowerend of-which seeme to the post other suitable means. The forwardportion cap by-button head screws 24' or byanyj it the; upper; end of:the resilient catch is der 25, which shoulderengages the top of the lug21 and retains said lug in close engagement with the cap lug 17. The.rear.

part of. the upper portionof the catch is provided with afinger grip 26by which the operator may actuate the resilient .catch at p g i p As 1nthe form enclosed in Flgures 1 and 2,

will. 7 V the form of inventlon disclosed by Figures 1' and 2 inconnection with the means for locking the steering: wheel in ianinoperative position and against the steer- 7 king: post, the spider 19consists of three legs,

. two of which are/arranged adjacentj-the forward-side of thesteering'wheel. In 'thlS case, the rim of the steering wheel is receivedbetween a pair ofL-shaped locklng j plates 27, which are'secured to thesteering post 5, after the'steering wheel has been swung uponits pivotpin 15 and the "rim thereof engages the steering'postIf'These plates '27have one arm thereof secured'to the steering post by means of rivets 28'or the like, in such a mannenthat'the 'free' arms of the plates arearranged in the same vertical plane "andeXtend outwardly: of thesteering 00st in substantially a horizontal plane. lowever, as will beclearly noted" in Fig. lthe free arms of the angle plates 27 inclineslightly--upwardlyj so as p to elliciently receive the rim of'thesteerlng'wheel at .the proper time. In each free arm adj acent its end,we'pro'videv a perforation, which "perforations arealigned to receive'the shackle of a pad lock 29, or an'y'otherdesirable, locking means.

' When a is desired to lock the steering ftent that theshoulder25'of thecatch disengages the lug'21 carried by the depending" T 27 to retain therim of the wheel, the operator grasps the resilient catch 23 by its grip26 and moves the same toward theseat of the auto to. such an eX- portion20 of the spider l9. This operation will of course free the steeringwheel so i that it may be moved forwardly through an are of a circle.until the rim of the steering wheel engages the steering post 5 andisarranged between thefr'ee arms of the'angle ';plates'27.' When thesteering wheelfattains this position, the shackle of'an ordinary; pad

lock is passed through the aligned perfora tions inthe free arms. of theangle-plates steering wheel between these arms,

In the modified form of invention dis-- closed in Figures Sf'and 4, thearms of the sp1der'19 are arranged 1n such a -manner that only one ofthelegs of thespider is arranged adjacent the forward p'ortion of thewheel, while the other twolegs of the spider 'are arranged adjacent therear portion of forward leg of the spider 19*is engaged, as

the free arms 32 are spaced apart and their free ends are providedwithaligned' per- "fora-ti'ons for the-reception of the shackle of a padlock 29 as set forth above. Therefore, when the steering wheel is swungin an arc of a circle until its rim=engagesthe post 5, it will be seenas inzFig. Bthat the forward leg of the spider 19 wi1lbe arrangedbetween the free arms 3210f the angle plates 30. The pad lock 29-is thenof course applied to the free arms 32 in a manner'to prevent the leg ofthe spider 19' from becoming disengaged from therebetween. r

After the pad lock 29 has'been removed and it is desired to placethesteering wheel in an operative position, the steering'wheel is swungrearwardly in an arc of-a circle until the lug 21' contacts with'theforward diately spring forward to engage the upper face of this lug tosecurely retain the steer ing wheel in an operative position.

The foregoing description and the drawings have reference towhat may beconsidered the preferred, or approved, form of face of the shoulder 25ofthe resilient "catch inventioin It is to be understood that we maymake such changes in construction'and arrangement and combination ofparts, ma-

terials, dimensions, etc, as may prove expeclient and fall within. the-scope ofthe appended. claims. V p 1 Having thus fullydesc'ribed .ourinvention, what we claim as new and desire-to secure by'Leters Patent,is I "1. The combination with a steering post and a steeringwheel-pivoted thereto, "of 'af pair of spaced arms secured to thepost'to receive 'therebetween a portion ofsaid'wheel, and means forconnectingl'the'free ends of the arms to prevent said portion of thewheelfrom becoming disengaged from be-f tween said arms; I 1

2. The combination with V and a steering wheel pivoted thereto'fof apair of spaced parallel arms secured to the a steering post v post to'receive 'therebetweenfa portion, of

said wheel, and means I 'for connecting the free ends of the arms tolock said portion of the wheel between the arms.

3. The combination with a steering post In'testimony whereof we ,aflixour sigand a steering Wheel pivoted thereto, of a natures in presence oftwo Witnesses.

pair of spaced apertured arms securedto DONALD C GOSSETT' the post toreceive therebetween a portlon ELDON F. GJOSSETT.

'of said Wheel, and a padlock having its shackle extended through theapertured Witnesses: arms to lock therebetween said portion of AL0Ys F.ALBERs,

the steering Wheel. 7 a 4 WM. H. YOUNG.

